Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on JNPR. Evercore ISI raised Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus cut Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of JNPR stock opened at $36.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $33.72 and a 1 year high of $39.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a PEG ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.87.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $3,131,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,761 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 52,174 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 7,741 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 209.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 85,977 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,220,000 after acquiring an additional 58,178 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 146,935 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,488,000 after acquiring an additional 22,899 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Company Profile

Juniper Networks, Inc designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers.